DIGBY HOGAN: EMPEROR & EDITOR

Digby has been working in the local industry for 10 years and during that time has had the opportunity to work along side some of Australia's greatest directors and creatives. In his early years, Digby worked part time as a grip to help fund his film making passions. He was constantly creating content so that he could hone his editing craft, spending his weekends and evenings learning as much as he possibly could. Digby then ventured out as a freelance editor for a short period of time before working full time with Cutting Edge for 2 years. With a growing interest in long form content, Digby moved back into freelance editing to complete a feature length period drama and a feature length documentary. From there the demand for more space and bigger facilities lead him to make the jump from Digby Hogan - Freelance Editor to The Empire Post.

1. What was your favourite toy as a kid?A wooden train set and an overload of stuffed toys that occupied residency at the bottom of my bed

2. What is a dish that you will never eat again? Truffles and/or truffle oil. There's nothing worse than not being warned something has truffle in it.

3. Do you have any hobbies?Is work a hobby? I love aviation and over the past 12 months have been in the process of getting my pilots licence. Flying is the most amazing feeling

4. What is the best surprise you have ever had? A puppy! Nicole unknowingly dragged me to Toowoomba one afternoon to meet "Luna" and now she is apart of the Empire family.

5. Would you rather never have to work again or never have to need sleep again? Never need sleep!! #Me there can never be enough time in a day.

NICOLE MANNS: MANAGING DIRECTOR

In 2014 Nicole joined forces with Digby and together they started the Empire. Stepping away from freelance production managing, Nicole brought with her 7 years of production experience and a Bachelors degree in Film & Screen Media Production.

1. What excites you so much that it keeps you awake the night before? Christmas! I'm a crazy Christmas person. Christmas in July is also a big tradition of ours.

2. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?I grew up in a rural town and we were left to our own imagination to entertain ourselves. I think my parents would die a little inside if they knew all the stupid things we did. But as an adult I'm not much of a thrill seeker. Trusting Digby to teach me to snowboard proved to be pretty dangerous though!

3. Who would you want to be stranded on an island with?Obviously Bear Grylls or some other person highly skilled in survival techniques... or maybe Rex Hunt, I do love fishing!

4. What books influenced you the most while growing up?When I was in primary school I refused to get into the Harry Potter series. Instead I was obsessed with the Tomorrow series by John Marsden. I was preparing for the end of the world. Those books were my inspiration to study film. I wanted to make them into a TV series... unfortunately someone beat me to it!

5. Would you rather live 10 x 100 year lives or live for 1000 years? I love the idea of being able to start fresh every 100 years... but I'll take the 1000 year long life. Imagine all the advancements you would get to see and things you could do with that much time!

GEORGIA MARTIN: PRODUCER

Georgia joined the Empire team at the beginning of 2016 and brought with her 18 years of advertising agency experience. She is well known and loved within the industry and is always a fun and welcoming face for clients on a day to day basis.

1. What is the strangest/best talent that you have? I'm really good at doing different accents, but the extent of it is pretty much one sentence per accent. (to the annoyance of my co-workers).

5. Would you rather be itchy for the rest of your life or sticky for the rest of your life?Sticky for sure! But more like velcro sticky not honey sticky ... Do I get to choose the stickiness?

KAIT FERGUSON: PRODUCER

Kait joined the Empire at the beginning of 2017 and has been working in post production and television for the past 5 years. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience from working across some of Australia’s biggest brands including BHP Billiton, Tourism Queensland and BCF.

1. What movie title best describes your life? ‘Dude, Where’s My Car?'

2. What is your go to karaoke song? ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ by Queen. Although I wish it was ‘You Can Call me Al’ by Paul Simon, but nobody wants to sit through that penny whistle solo.

3. What's your secret talent that no one knows about? I could never reveal it.

4. What’s your life motto? ‘What’s a motto with you?'

5. Would you rather go back to age 5 with everything that you now know or know now everything your future self will learn? Know everything my future self will learn! (A 5 year old should not know the taste of hard liquor.)

GEORGIA MACKAY: OFFLINE EDITOR

Georgia has been with the Empire since before it's creation, starting as an intern during her studies in 2014. She started out as an assistant editor and fast proved herself to be a highly talented and creative editor. Boasting skills in motion graphics and design along with strong story telling abilities, Georgia is fast becoming a favourite amongst directors and creatives.

1.If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? Mulan.

2.What is your favourite happy hour drink? Many espresso martinis.

3. What is your favourite song from the 90’s? 'Bills Bills, Bills' - Destiny’s Child.

4. If you had 1 million dollars, what would you do? Pay Beyoncè to surprise serenade me at any time in the next ten years.

5. Would you rather have hands that keep growing as you got older or feet that kept growing as you got older? Feet, at least that means more shoes.

DANIKA CATCHPOLE: ANIMATOR & ILLUSTRATOR

Danika graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Animation with Honours after originally studying Game Design at Griffith University. Since then she has been working as a freelance animator between Sydney and Brisbane with companies such as Frame Set & Match, Flux Animation and Supernaut. She joined the Empire team at the beginning of 2017

2. Who would you most like to swap places with for a day? Not a 'who', but a 'what', because it'd be super duper great to be a jellyfish for a day. Just floating around the ocean without a brain. What a dream...

3. If you could have any meal, what would it be? Peking duck.

4. If you could go anywhere in the world for a weekend, where would it be? Japan! But I would need a lot longer than a measly weekend.

5. Would you rather have unlimited sushi for the rest of your life or unlimited tacos for the rest of your life? Tacos!

ZOË CHAPMAN: CLIENT SERVICES / PRODUCER'S ASSISTANT

Zoë is a fresh face to the local industry and this is something that The Empire are super excited about. Zoë has recently relocated from Sydney where she worked for Virgin Australia within their Project Implementation and Business Improvement departments. She brings with her a Degree in History & Study of Religion from UQ.

1. What was the last really good book you read? Fiction would be 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury and non-fiction would be 'Girls Will Be Girls' by Emer O’Toole.

2. Who inspires you the most? No single person does as I think it’s important to draw inspiration from a diverse group of voices and viewpoints. The key to growth is being challenged and constantly exploring new ideas and ways of thinking.

3. What would you do if you could go back in time? I wouldn’t do anything for fear of creating a paradox!

4. What song lyrics best sum up your life? “I am the egg man. They are the egg men. I am the walrus.” 'I Am The Walrus', The Beatles.

5. Would you rather only be able to whisper or only be able to shout? Whisper. Otherwise I fear being kicked out of many a reputable establishment.